With Arms Wide Open
by Ninja Mage
Summary: What if Sephiroth had a son? What if that son was Kadaj from AC? Heard the Creed song and thought of this. Better summary inside. Songfic. OneShot. PG to be safe.


Okay, this is my first attempt at a songfic. One-shot. I was listening to "With Arms Wide Open" by Creed the other day, and came up with this idea. Some facts may be off (I haven't even finished disc 1 of FF7... An example of mistakes: I seriously doubt Sephiroth lived at a lab with Vincent and Hojo), but I'm doin' my best. We all know there are major three silver-haired people in Advent Children (Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo), which everyone assumes to be Sephiroth clones. Although he's seemingly the youngest, Kadaj also seems to be the leader of the group. I had a thought about this: What if Kadaj isn't a clone, but Sephy's son instead? I thought about it, and came up with these events surrounding the two of them. Not one of those cold-hearted Sephiroth stories, either (I don't do very many of those, do I?). I also include how Kadaj, Loz and Yazoo became a team, and speculation as to the plot of the movie.

NOTE 1: Lyrics are in bold, 'story' in regular letters.

NOTE 2: As for Yazoo, this fic portrays this clone as a woman. I know most websites refer to her as 'he,' but if you take a look at her chest, you'll see otherwise. And if she is a guy, too bad! I'm gonna feel stupid, but that's okay!

NOTE 3: Spoiler for those of you reading my KH fic, but you can read this anyway.

NOTE 4: This is a long songfic, so you've been warned!

****

WITH ARMS WIDE OPEN

"Well, well," Dr. Hojo smiled. "I see you finally woke up."

"Leave me alone," Sephiroth yawned in reply.

"Good thing, too," Vincent said. "We have something that was left for you last night."

"Huh?"

"Come here," Vincent urged. Sephiroth approached the table to find a baby curled up in a basket. A letter addressed to him was lying next to it. Sephiroth stared for a moment.

"You've _got_ to be kidding me."

Well I just heard the news today

It seems my life is going to change

I closed my eyes, begin to pray

Then tears of joy stream down my face

"I'm guessing you and Maya did more than you let on about," Hojo laughed. Sephiroth picked up the letter and read.

"Says here," he started, "she didn't find out that the kid was coming until after we broke up. She wanted to try to raise him herself, but wasn't able to do it. He's six months old, and she wants me to care for him."

"Did she give him a name?" Vincent asked as he tickled the child's stomach. Sephiroth shook his head.

"No, she said that since I wasn't with her and haven't known, I should name him," Sephiroth glanced at the waking baby and shook his head. "No. I have too much on my hands already. I'll take him to the orphanage tomorrow."

"He sleeps in your room tonight," Hojo said calmly. He and Sephiroth argued for several minutes before he caved.

"Fine. I'm going to work out."

"You've got to come back and take care of your son eventually," Vincent hollered to his receding back. Sephiroth waved a hand and continued walking.

With arms wide open

Under the sunlight

Welcome to this place

I'll show you everything

With arms wide open

With arms wide open

"You've kept that from when I was a baby?"

"Yes," Vincent nodded. Sephiroth had avoided the child all day. He was shocked to find a crib set up when he went to his room later that night. "See you in the morning."

"Good night," Sephiroth sighed as Vincent left. He looked at the crib that contained the sleeping child. "Why did I have to start dating?"

He slept for only a few minutes when he was woken up by his son's howls. He covered his head with a pillow and moaned. Sephiroth finally got up and stared at the wiggling form.

"You better not need a change," he muttered. He reached into the mass of blankets and tried to hold him, but he couldn't keep a hold of the baby. He finally ran his fingers over the child's stomach. "You like that?"

"He he," the baby began to laugh. Sephiroth tickled the child for several minutes.

Well I don't know if I'm ready

To be the man I have to be

I'll take a breath, I'll take her by my side

We stand in awe, we've created life

"Okay, I have to go to sleep now. Bedtime," Sephiroth ordered. The baby yawned and closed his eyes. "No more crying, okay?"

Sephiroth turned and tried to pull out his hand, but something had a hold of his thumb. Peering into the crib, the baby was quickly falling asleep and had a tight grip of his hand. Sephiroth worked his thumb free and held the child's hand with a gentleness he never knew he possessed. He carefully picked him up and held him. Sephiroth never saw that Vincent and Hojo had been watching them the entire time.

"You know," Sephiroth smiled. He carried his son to the window and looked from his face to the moon. "I never asked for you. I don't know anything about being a father. I never had one, myself. But I promise to do my best," he said softly. He looked back into his son's face. As he laid the sleeping form next to him in bed, he whispered, "I will love you the best I can, Kadaj."

With arms wide open

Under the sunlight

Welcome to this place

I'll show you everything

With arms wide open

Now everything has changed

I'll show you love

I'll show you everything

With arms wide open

With arms wide open

I'll show you everything… oh, yeah

With arms wide open… wide open

"Daddy!" the nine year old cried. Sephiroth walked into his son's room and hugged him.

"What's wrong?"

"I had a bad dream," Kadaj wept.

"Come on, you can sleep with me tonight," Sephiroth comforted him. He picked up his son and carried him to his room. They lie down, but Kadaj didn't want to sleep.

"Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Why don't I have a mommy?" Kadaj asked innocently. Sephiroth thought for a moment.

"You see," he explained slowly. "You are what's called an illegitimate child."

"I can read!" the boy snapped. His father laughed.

"No, no, no. You're thinking 'illiterate'. _Illegitimate_ means illegal. In the case of children such as yourself, it means that your parents weren't married when you were born."

"Oh, I get it," Kadaj nodded. Sephiroth knew better; he would change the subject any moment now. "But where's my mommy?"

"Your mom found out that you were coming after she and I broke up. She didn't want to come back to me, because she thought she could care for you alone. She couldn't, so one night when you were about six months old, she left you just inside the door to this lab. I don't know what happened to her after that. Vincent and Hojo found you and told me. I almost sent you to an orphanage. I didn't think I could care for you, either. But…" Sephiroth slowed down. "Something that night changed my mind. I had avoided you the entire day. I was a little afraid. I hadn't been around a baby before, so I wasn't sure how to act. That night, your crying woke me up, so I started tickling you. When I turned to leave, I realized that I couldn't. I picked you up and in holding you, I decided to try to raise you the best I could. That necklace around your neck… You've had that ever since the day you came into my life. And now, my son, is the time for sleep. I have to start training the new SOLDIER recruits tomorrow. I'm quite excited about working with one named Cloud Strife."

"Yes, father," Kadaj yawned. Sephiroth turned out the light and wrapped an arm around his child.

"What was your dream about?" he asked. Kadaj was silent for a moment.

"I don't remember."

"Good. Nightmares are rarely easy to forget."

"You aren't gonna leave me, are you?"

"Some day, I will. Don't worry. I still have a good many years before I leave you."

"I love you, daddy."

"And I love you, Kadaj."

Two years later, Sephiroth left Kadaj while he and Cloud went to the Nibelheim Mako Reactor. Sephiroth never came back. Kadaj wandered the country for a year and a half until he managed to stowaway on a transport to Nibelheim. Three and a half years passed, and Kadaj spent the time living in the SHINRA mansion. He grew stronger in his search for Sephiroth and Vincent, who was supposed to have come here as well. One day, five years after his father's disappearance, Kadaj observed two men in pitch-black cloaks wandering outside. Cloud and a group of people came shortly after and found Vincent. Having discovered that they were tracking his father, Kadaj followed them stealthily until one day…

If I had just one wish

Only one demand

I hope he's not like me

I hope he understands

That he can take this life

And hold it by the hand

And he can greet the world

With arms wide open…

"You taught me too well, Sephiroth," Cloud yelled. He and Sephiroth were tiring. Kadaj watched from the shadows nervously. He wanted to help his father, but Cloud was a much better swordsman than he was, and would surely beat him to a pulp.

"Dad, please, you have to win," he pleaded. He shut his eyes and struggled to keep from screaming and going after Cloud as he delivered one last blow.

"How…" Sephiroth whispered. Blood poured from his head as he looked at Cloud in disbelief. Sephiroth disappeared in a white light, red energy escaping. Kadaj knelt to the ground as Cloud gazed at his fallen teacher.

"No… father… you promised…" Kadaj muttered. He curled up into a ball and wept. It was a few hours later when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, what's wrong?" a feminine voice asked. Kadaj looked up to find a man and a woman looking at him. They both looked remarkably like Sephiroth, except the man had short hair and the woman was, well, a woman and not a man.

"He must know. The great Sephiroth is dead. Meteor has been destroyed," the man said. "I didn't know there were more clones. I thought there were only one hundred."

"Well, this makes one hundred and one. He's younger then the others, too. Don't worry, kid," the woman smiled. "You're coming with us. My name is Yazoo."

"Loz. And we need to find a name for you. What was your number?"

"I already have a name. Where are we going?"

"We may know where to find the body of Sephiroth. With the right spell components, we can bring him back," Yazoo explained.

"We'll have to be quiet about it. Cloud will come after us if he finds out," Loz warned Kadaj. "You said you already had a name?"

"Yes," he nodded. "It's Kadaj, and I'm more than willing to join you."

With arms wide open

Under the sunlight

Welcome to this place

I'll show you everything

With arms wide open

Now everything has changed

I'll show you love

I'll show you everything

With arms wide open

With arms wide open

I'll show you everything… oh, yeah

With arms wide open… wide open


End file.
